The Washington Post reports on Dylan Roof’s sentencing for the murder of nine people in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015. The lede says this: Six weeks after he shot and killed nine people at a Charleston church, Dylann Roof lamented in a jailhouse journal that he could no longer go to the movies or eat good food. But he still felt the massacre was “worth it” because of what he perceived as the wrongs perpetrated by the black community. “I would like to make it crystal clear, I do not regret what I did,” Roof wrote. “I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the…
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The eternal generation of the Son is the biblicist position (and always has been)
Lee Irons has produced a substantive and persuasive response to Kevin Giles’s claim that the Fathers never understood MONOGENES to denote eternal generation. Lee’s work is heady stuff and unfolds in five separate posts. But it is worth the read if you can track with the Greek. I think Lee establishes that the Fathers did in fact view MONOGENES as an exegetical linchpin for eternal generation. The evidence he provides is quite compelling (even overwhelming). Here are links to all five posts. Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 In his final post, Lee makes a crucial point that evangelicals would do well…
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Which team would you prefer to win the College Football National Championship?
Which team would you prefer to win the College Football National Championship?(Not who do you THINK will win, but who do you WANT to win?) — Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) January 1, 2017 My working theory is that most people are getting tired of Alabama and would like to see the dynasty fall. Let’s see if this poll bears that out. Y’all know who I’m pulling for in this one. If I had an orange shirt, I might even wear it. Geaux, Tigers!
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Dane Ortlund’s hard-hitting review of N. T. Wright’s new book on the cross.
Dane Ortlund has posted a review of N. T. Wright’s recent book The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion. This is as hard-hitting a review as I have ever read. Among other things, Ortlund writes: I can’t review this book by trotting out a bunch of virtues and then saying one or two things that could have been stronger and concluding that it’s a nice book that everyone should read. The problems with this book, unlike the majority of Wright’s other books, so outweigh the good things that the net effect of reading it is spiritually dangerous. Many college students will read this book for their…
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Another chance to catch a glimpse of what is coming true
As we begin 2017, it is good to think about what has been and what is to come. There were many people who started 2016 not knowing that it would be their last. I’ve known them. And so have you. We are not so different from them, are we? When I look in the rearview mirror, I see the years gathering up behind me, and I can hardly believe how quickly they’ve piled up. As life rattles forward, it seems the earth makes its annual journey a little quicker than the year before. Where have the years gone?
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“Nonjudgmental affirmation” is not a parenting strategy
National Geographic has released a special issue titled “Gender Revolution,” and it includes one article offering advice for parents of transgender children. Here is the bottom line: Your most important role as a parent is to offer understanding, respect, and support to your child. A nonjudgmental approach will gain your child’s trust and put you in a better position to help your child through difficult times. When your child discloses an identity to you, respond in an affirming, supportive way… In short, parents must affirm whatever identity a child embraces or risk “harming” their child. But there are some obvious questions that never get asked and answered in this article.…
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Top Ten Posts of 2016
Some of you may have noticed a big change at DennyBurk.com in 2016. I closed down comments on the blog. I didn’t make a big announcement or anything. I just did it. Why? The short answer is that Tim Challies convinced me. After a trial run of closed comments, I eventually wavered and opened them back up. But then I read this article explaining why NPR shut down comments on its website, and that sealed the deal for me. No more comments! I want to thank all of you who have read and interacted with this site over the last year. I am grateful for every one of you. For…
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A Plan to Read through the Bible in 2017
In years past, my customary mode for reading through the Bible every year involved starting in Genesis and reading right through to Revelation. I estimated that about four chapters per day would get me through in under a year’s time. The method worked reasonably well, but it wasn’t without its problems. Sometimes I would miss a day (or days) and get behind, and I had no way to keep up with my progress. I needed a schedule so that I could keep myself accountable for finishing in a year. In 2009, therefore, I did something I had never done before. I followed a Bible reading plan. I adopted Robert Murray…
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Top 10 YouTubes of 2016
It’s time for my annual posting of the Top 10 YouTube Videos of the Year (see last year’s list here). This ranking is totally unscientific. Only one person was polled to compile this list—yours truly. This year’s slate of videos is mainly humorous, with some other odds and ends thrown in. If you think I’ve left something out, let me know. I’ll think about adding it to the “Honorable Mention” category at the bottom. If you’re interested, here are links to lists from previous years: 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 1. Brothers convince sister of zombie apocalypse It’s another one…
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Let every heart prepare him room!
How could there possibly be anything more mysterious and wonderful than the incarnation of Jesus Christ? God became a man. God took on mortal human flesh and became subject to all the things that every other mortal is subject to. He sneezed. He coughed. He got headaches and an upset stomach. Every morning he got up, shook the dust out of His hair, and put his hand to the plow in his Father’s field. Jesus Christ was not only subject to sickness, but also to death. The eternal Son of God was die-able. In fact, he did die. And three days later, what was mortal became swallowed up by immortality…